The Prohibiting Voice of Toxic Leadership: A Pentecostal Silencing Study

December 3, 2025

The Prohibiting Voice of Toxic Leadership: A Pentecostal Silencing Study

Joseph Dominick Martinez | 2025

Abstract

Toxic leadership and silence have been widely studied in secular settings, yet their presence and impact within religious institutions remain mostly underexplored, especially from a follower-centric perspective. This qualitative phenomenological study examines the lived experiences of individuals silenced by toxic leadership in Pentecostal church environments, where faith, hierarchy, and obedience intersect. Grounded in Husserlian phenomenology, this research explores how followers navigate five interdependent dimensions of silencing—destructive leaders, organizational culture, institutional structures, group dynamics, and self-silencing behaviors. Through in-depth interviews with 11 participants, the findings revealed how theological conditioning, internalized beliefs, authoritarian leaders, cultural pressures, and hierarchical obedience converge to reinforce silence as an institutional tool and a personal survival strategy. This study introduces the concept of “spiritualized silencing,” a newly identified form of voice suppression unique to faith-based settings, wherein doctrinal narratives discourage dissent and cultivate compliance. Additionally, the self-silencing sustainment theory is proposed to explain how individuals internalize, maintain, and perpetuate their silence within toxic religious contexts. The chief contribution of the study is the silencing pyramid, a multidimensional conceptual model that demonstrates how psychological, social, structural, and leadership forces interact to perpetuate silence within religious communities. This research advances scholarship in leadership studies, organizational behavior, Pentecostalism, and silence theory by providing a critical framework for analyzing and dismantling toxic systems while fostering healthier, voice-affirming environments. Future research should examine the intersection of faith, authority, and voice agency to develop ethically accountable leadership structures and advance reform within religious spaces.

Keywords: organizational silence, Pentecostalism, self-silencing sustainment theory, spiritualized silencing, the silencing pyramid, toxic leadership

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